A number of articles of the bill on soil protection were approved by parliament on Sunday based on which the Agriculture Ministry, the Department of Environment and directors of Free Trade Zones were charged with relevant duties.
The ministry and the DOE were tasked to take measures to restore the soil degraded by erosion and contamination due natural incidents.
Directors of FTZs are also instructed to take remedial measures once a case of soil destruction is reported by either DOE or the ministry.
Besides, those who directly or indirectly cause soil contamination higher than the defined limitations are required to reverse the damage based on the set directions, DOE’s official news portal reported.
The bill targets all manufacturing firms, industries, the service sector and mining sites in FTZs, whose activities may result in high levels of soil pollution. They are also required to give reports on the process of restoration projects to monitoring officers.
Nature of the Phenomenon
Soil pollution is defined as the presence of toxic chemicals (pollutants or contaminants) in soil, in high enough concentrations to pose a risk to human health or the ecosystem. In the case of contaminants which occur naturally in soil, even when their levels are not high enough to pose a risk, soil pollution is still said to occur if the levels of the contaminants in soil exceed the levels that should naturally be present.
Also, soil contamination can be regarded as the presence of man-made chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil.
The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals.
The occurrence of this phenomenon has correlation with the degree of industrialization and intensity of chemical usage.
Soil pollution affects plants, animals and humans alike.
